RE: the winter storm of January. My Front Driveway and vehicle parking area is Gravel covered Alluvial Sand that was deposited a Very Long time ago. During the peak rainfall here my parking area was covered with a sheet of 'standing' water that covered the Gravel. the Tent canvas over my Patio developed Two Deep Bulges from accumulated water that i 'dumped' twice during the storm's passage. Once The Rain Slowed, the standing water subsided rapidly. The once brown Grass of my Yards turned green the next day with fresh growth and still continues to be green today. As is normal in Winter, the deciduous trees have Gone to Yellow before the storm and were turned into Bare gray Limbs by the wind and rain. Wet, yellowed, leaves covered the ground around those trees. The Pine trees lost some needles and a few old dry limbs that littered my 'lawn' And a sheet of 1/8" thick Luan Plywood was rendered into small pieces by the storms rage.
Cleanup has been accomplished here, with my 'trash bins' filled and ready For their second 'pick up' after the storm's passing.
Good News from "Angeles Shooting Ranges" as I found out Saturday they have been working diligently and will be reopening the ranges for shooters Monday Morning. The range Offices are presently in a 'double wide Trailer' while Cleanup and clearing of the old, burned out, Range Office building continues.
The Burned or 'cooked' trees and 'snags' are still being cut down and cut up along the access Road to the range area, mostly an old Eucalyptus planting from about Prior to WW2 Era. a Line of Pine trees surrounding the County prisoner Camp show 'cooked' foliage about half way up their height but are green and growing above that. An Oak that bordered the access road is still green but a section of it that had toppled a couple of years earlier and dried out has gone to ash. the Little Tungah (sp?) Canyon hillsides which were part of the Creek fire burn area are now gray-brown and almost completely bare of growth as it is still too soon after the fire for new growth to be evident. The Area reminds me of photos of war torn WW1 Battle Zones in color and missing foliage, but without the shell craters. a abrupt change from the appearance it had Before the fires.
My Niece lives on a street in the Sunland area that is between the areas burned by the Creek fire and the Previous La Tuna Canyon fire. She was lucky then but the rains and mud/debris flows did come down her street, so there was cleanup to attend to there.
Reports of the Massive fire and Rain/Mud damage and cleanups in Monticito, CA have been in the news with the sad loss of Life in the Mudslides. There are sitll Some Unaccounted for residents of the area with chances of finding them alive dwindling. Sad.
Best Regards,
Chev. William